New Delhi :
At least 23 newly elected legislators will take oath as ministers in the Rajasthan Cabinet on Monday. The oath-taking ceremony will take place in Raj Bhawan at 11:30 am. Of the 23 MLAs expected to take oath as ministers in the Ashok Gehlot Cabinet, 22 are from the Congress while one is from the Rashtriya Lok Dal. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his deputy Sachin Pilot, who were in Delhi for the past three days to discuss the new Cabinet with Congress president Rahul Gandhi, returned to Jaipur on Sunday afternoon. Both Gehlot and Pilot had taken oath on December 17. Sources said that during the names of ministers were finalised by Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot after a round of meetings with Congress president Rahul Gandhi. According to sources, Congress president Rahul Gandhi wanted the Rajasthan Cabinet to be a blend of old and new legislators, thus, 17 MLAs will be given the ministry charge for the first time. Of the 17, seven will be the made directly Cabinet ministers while 10 will be given the minister of state rank.
Rajasthan Cabinet Swearing-In Live Updates:
#11:45 am: Jhotwara (Jaipur) MLA Lalchand Kataria, Kekri (Ajmer) MLA Raghu Verma, Anta MLA Pramod Jain Bhaya, Deeg Kumher MLA Vishwendra Pratap Singh, Baytu MLA Harish Choudhary take oath as ministers in the Ashok Gehlot Cabinet.
#11:42 am: Master Bhanwarlal Meghwal takes oath as Cabinet minister. Meghawal comes from the Shekhawati (Jhunjhunu, Churu, Sikar) area. He too was a minister in the previous Ashok Gehlot government.
Jaipur: Swearing-in ceremony of 13 cabinet ministers & 10 state ministers of newly-formed Rajasthan govt underway at Raj Bhavan. Bulaki Das Kalla, Shanti Kumar Dhariwal & Prasadilal Meena have taken oath as Cabinet Ministers. pic.twitter.com/O66o8jTZgd
— ANI (@ANI) December 24, 2018
#11:40 am: Lalsot MLA Parsadi Lal Meena takes oath as Cabinet minister. Meena was also a minister in the previous Ashok Gehlot government.
#11:38 am: Shanti Dhariwal also takes oath as cabinet minister. The oath was administered by Governnor Kalyan Singh.
#11:35 am: BREAKING: BD Kalla becomes the first legislator to take oath as Cabinet minister in the newly elected Rajasthan government.
#11:25 am: List of MLAs likely to take oath as ministers: BD Kalla, Raghu Sharma, Shanti Dhariwal, Lal Chand Kataria, Pramod Jain Bhaya, Parsadi Lal Meena, Vishvendra Singh, Harish Choudhary, Ramesh Chand Meena, Bhanwar Lal Meghwal, Pratap Singh Khachariyawas, Udai Lal Anjana, Saleh Mohammad , Govind Singh Dotasara, Mamta Bhupesh, Arjun Singh Bamaniya, Bhanwar Singh Bhati, Sukhram Vishnoi, Ashok Chandna, Tikaram Jully, Bhajanlal Jatav, Rajendra Singh Yadav and RLD's Subhash Garg.
# 11:20 am: Swearing-in ceremony to start soon. Governor Kalyan Singh will administer the oath of the new Cabinet ministers.
#11:15 am: Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, Deputy CM Sachin Pilot and other Congress leaders left for Raj Bhawan where swearing-in ceremony of Rajasthan cabinet ministers will take place.
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— Rajasthan PCC (@INCRajasthan) December 24, 2018
Also Read | Rajasthan Cabinet: 23 newly elected MLAs to take oath as ministers today
Those expected to take the oath are BD Kalla, Raghu Sharma, Shanti Dhariwal, Lal Chand Kataria, Pramod Jain Bhaya, Parsadi Lal Meena, Vishvendra Singh, Harish Choudhary, Ramesh Chand Meena, Bhanwar Lal Meghwal, Pratap Singh Khachariyawas, Udai Lal Anjana, Saleh Mohammad and Govind Singh Dotasara.
Other members also likely to take the oath are - Mamta Bhupesh, Arjun Singh Bamaniya, Bhanwar Singh Bhati, Sukhram Vishnoi, Ashok Chandna, Tikaram Jully, Bhajanlal Jatav, Rajendra Singh Yadav and RLD's Subhash Garg.
Rajasthan has the maximum 30-member Cabinet birth which also includes the chief minister. The Congress will keep at least five posts vacant and they will be filled in the Cabinet expansion later this year.
#RajasthanCabinet Swearing-in ceremony: Probable list of ministers expected to take oath today. pic.twitter.com/EfVrgeNJqv
— News Nation (@NewsNationTV) December 24, 2018
The Congress party had managed to win 99 of the 200-Member Lok Sabha to bounce back after its dismal performance in 2013 Assembly elections. The Congress could only win 21 seats in 2013.
“The Congress leadership has ensured representation to region, caste, experience and young blood. It will not be a full-fledged cabinet; another expansion will be done later, probably after the Lok Sabha elections,” a senior party leader said.
